GARDEN OF THE GODS IN COLORADO SPRINGS

 

On  a sunny Sunday, Sept. 8, we visited Garden of the Gods in Colorado  Springs. Neither of us had visited it in several years. It was well worth the repeat visit. A short  movie in the Visitor Center explained the complicated geology of the area. The up thrust rocks were sedimentary, laid down in a large inland sea, and pushed vertically when the current version (the third) of the Rocky Mountains were pushed up by tectonic plate action.

As a youngster I bought a View Master reel of color stereo images taken here. I wonder if I can find it again!

This view is from the Visitor Center balcony. Pikes Peak is in the background. The gift of the Garden of the Gods land by the private owner to the the City of Colorado Springs provided that no charge was to be made for entry into the park. The City has built and maintained the internal roads very well.  The City has income from the tourists by services provided in the Visitor Center and services and sales at a Trading Post (large gift shop and cafe)  in the park.

 

This and the next view are from the first parking lot encountered by the tourist. There are many developed hiking trails throughout the park. We did not try any.

 

 

This up thrust of grey rock is made from a different sedimentary layer than the red one.

The formations in the center aptly are named Cathedral Spires. In the background is Cheyenne Mountain in which the NORAD cave is  located.

Balanced Rock is a popular spot for taking pictures of those in your party. Jo easily climbed to this spot.  This area was not a part of the park many years ago and an enterprising photographer who owned the land charged tourists $0.25 for their picture taken next to the rock or seated on a burro he supplied.  

 

And I climbed to a little more accessible spot for my picture.

The Trading Post is the large gift store and cafe.

 

These views are enhanced by the clouds building in the bright blue sky. Below is a telephoto shot from the same  camera position as this one.

 

All of the rocks are named, but I cannot recall the name of this one, significantly different from the others in color and shape. If one wants to do technical rock climbing in the park he must get a permit.

BOULDER CO PEDESTRIAN MALL ON A SUNDAY

 

On Sept. 1 we drove from the Westminster Elks Lodge to Boulder to visit friends George and Mardi Oetzel. They took us to the pedestrian mall in the old downtown area about 4 blocks long. It was a very pleasant day, and many were out strolling the mall, including sidewalk performers. The stores generally were specialty shops, boutiques, and restaurants. There were no vacancies in the storefronts.

The mall was nicely landscaped. The traffic on cross streets was minimal.

 

This large sandy play area was equipped with statues of animals on which children were playing. Two are on the snail.

The county courthouse, nicely landscaped, fronted on the mall.

This sidewalk performer played a tune on his drums.

And this performer was entertaining with his large bubbles soon burst by the children.

He is not a Wallenda, but he successfully walked his tight rope about 15 feet with no balancing rod.

The mall also was decorated with a few bronze statues.   

We checked out the Boulder Dushanabe Tea House. It was built in Boulder’s sister city, Dushanabe Tajikistan, disassembled, shipped to Boulder in creates and reassembled. We elected to have our evening meal in a nearby Cheesecake Factory restaurant. Jo and Mardi are seated on the bench.

 

 

This juggler was juggling 3 burning batons when we stopped to watch him, and his next act was briefly to juggle 5 of them in these two shots.

 

VALLEY CITY AND JAMESTOWN ND

 

I was so impressed with the long railroad viaduct north of Valley City ND that I took a few more shots to see if any might qualify for entry in a photo contest. On my visit this day a train was stopped on the viaduct, so I had plenty of time to compose the pictures. Here are a few taken by my Canon A1100 IS 12 mp camera.

 

 

Our next stop on August 23 was at Jamestown ND and its Frontier Village. Jo is standing beneath this statue of a bison (the world’s largest) to give a comparison of its size. Jamestown has dubbed itself as the Buffalo City. Nearby is the National Buffalo Museum.

 

The Lutz Mansion in Jamestown houses the Stutsman County museum. While the displays inside were interesting, the building interior was more interesting to me. The original millwork was still in place. One of the cameras on display was one I had not seen before – a Voightlander Prominent. I researched it on the web and sent an email to the curator about the details of the rare camera. The mansion was built by a German immigrant who became wealthy by owning and operating lumber yards in the area.

A main feature of the mansion was the central staircase leading to a stained glass window at the landing.

Here is the window at the landing from the second floor.

 

This Roman Catholic St. James Basilica  dominated the skyline of Jamestown.

Similar to Fargo, the BNSF tracks go directly through downtown. One of Jamestown’s claim to fame is that it is the birthplace  of Louis L’Amour.

UNION PACIFIC RR’S BAILEY YARD AT NORTH PLATTE NE

 

A  stop at the Union Pacific’s Bailey Yard at North Platte NE is a must for the dedicated railfan. Tom Harrison a few years ago told me about the Golden Spike tower from which to observe the yard, and we just got around to stopping there August 27 on our way to Colorado . The yard is the largest classification yard in the world.

 

This nicely landscaped sign greets the visitor as he arrives at the site about 2 miles west of North Platte. The observation tower is in the background.

 

And here is the 8 story tower behind the visitor center. An elevator takes one to the 8 floor where, behind tinted glass, a docent is available to answer questions. Ours was a retired engineer with whom I talked for nearly a half hour .I learned that one reason for UP engines often looking grimy is that  locomotives are no longer routinely washed at the Bailey yard after servicing. The old arrangements for washing caused problems with the track where the locomotives were washed and  from the water and chemicals used. I also learned that  some of the switches in the yard still have to be thrown by hand rather than being electrically assisted.

Outside the Visitor Center is UP’s Golden Spike car. My guess is that it is a diner or roomette car. Can anyone identify it more precisely?

The locomotive repair facility is at the left and toward the middle is the locomotive servicing facility where they are fueled on their way through. 14 million gallons of diesel fuel are dispensed here per month! Also in the yard is a car repair shop in operation 24/7 year around.

This mild telephoto shot shows the engine servicing tracks under and at the side of the arch. To the right in the distance (left of the blue and white tanks) is the hump for eastbound cars.  They are sent into perhaps 50 different tracks in what is called the bowl  to sort them into trains for various destinations .. Google Earth will give you excellent aerial views

 

The  hump for westbound car is shown in the middle distance to the right of the two blue cars on a bridge.

The above views show only the west part of the yard. The yard extends miles to the east of the these pictures.

This sign proclaims some of the interesting facts about the yard. It handles much more traffic that the BNSF yard at Barstow CA  the Golden Spike Chapter toured a few years ago.

VALLEY CITY HIGHLIGHTS

We have driven through Valley City ND several times, not pausing to take in the local sights.  This time we stayed a week in a nearby Corps of Engineers campground (the subject of another blog). We found that there are a lot of interesting things around Valley City.

 

The Valley City Visitors Center in a brochure touts several bridges around the city, all crossing the Sheyenne River. The most impressive is the 3/4 mile long single track railroad trestle completed in 1909 by the Great Northern RR. It is still in use by the BNSF and often carries mile long crude oil or coal unit trains across the valley. It is 165 feet over the river and is claimed to be the longest and highest railroad trestle in the US. This view is looking east from the highway crossing under the trestle.

Looking northwesterly from the road.

Details of the ironwork of a pier (or does it have another name?).

A point of interest along the highway to the campground is this horse-drawn grader. The operator has to be very muscular to turn the wheels to make adjustments to the blade. No power assist on this machine!

 

 

On  Aug 19 we took a day trip to drive the Sheyenne River National Scenic Byway its entire length of 65 miles.  From the north it took us first to a fish hatchery and the Baldhill Dam which backs up 27 mile long Ashtabula Lake. The road ran south along the river. The 26 mile graveled southern part of the road led is to the tiny village of Kathryn. It survived because it was built on a railroad  which transported the main agricultural product of the area, wheat. The original Co-op grain elevator still is in use.

 

Another point of interest on the route is Standing Rock. It sits on top of an uplift moraine perhaps 300 feet higher than the surrounding countryside. The rock was carried from Ontario by a glacier and left in this standing position when the glacier melted. It was a landmark used by early surveyors of the area and was thought to be a sacred place by the natives.

This country Lutheran Church still is in use by the local residents. The cemetery is nearby.

 

 

Another point of interest, this cabin was the home of to the Slattum family which raised nine children while living in it. I trust  that they were not living there all at the same time!

 

This Lutheran Church serves the community of Fort Ransom at the southern end of the journey. Local farmers and artisans built the original part of the building as a community project, without outside help.

EAST ASHTABULA CROSSING CORPS OF ENGINEERS CAMPGROUND

We have driven through Valley City ND several times but have paused only to look in antique ships. This year we decided to park at a Corps of Engineers campground north of Valley City on 27 mile long Lake Ashabula. The amenities were good - a nice swimming beach, playground for children, and great views of the lake, shown below.The only hookup at the sites was 30 amp electricity. A few water spigots were available, and a dump station was at a companion campground across a bridge.

 

 

 

 

BUT  few of the camping sites  were sufficiently level to park a motor home without ramps to level. There was no warning on the campground website of the sloping problem.

Travel trailers could be leveled as their wheelbases for two axle trailers is short.

Site 36 was so sloping that even though we ramped up the back dual wheels on both sides the motor home still was far from level.

The only advantage of site 36 was that we could fill the fresh water tank at the site. As soon as the weekend crowds left we moved to a less sloping site and still had to ramp.

Eggert’s Landing, another Corps of Engineers campground a few miles away had mostly level sites,